when demons walk Amongst Us
by vbollman
Summary: After the events in his Fifth year, Harry is sent away to heal both mind and body. Along the way he is adopted into three very different families
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thanks to Kei for her lovely Beta work... If not for her my work would be a true mess...

A/N... Yes I know I have other stories that need to be updated. I just wanted to get this up now, while I'm waiting for the three chapters I had sent off to my beta. Hopefully they'll be back soon.

Chapter One

Hogwarts, Spring of sixth year

An emergency meeting of select members of the Order of the Phoenix met together in the Headmaster's office the day before Spring Break was due to start. For the first time in memory, a Muggle couple sat in attendance, whose only link to the Order was their daughter.

Albus Dumbledore sat quietly in his chair and let the arguments flow around him as he contemplated the newest developments brought to him by his spies.

Hermione Granger's father Greg sat quietly next to his wife Jane, trying to make sense of what was going on around him. Finally losing hold of his patience, he stood from his chair and gave the room sweeping glance. "That is enough!" His voice, though not loud, swept through the room, cutting off all the arguments. When silence finally reigned, his eyes swept up and held the Headmaster's. "Can you please explain to me what is going on, and why my wife and I are here?"

The twinkle in the old man's eyes dimmed even more, if that was at all possible, as he sighed heavily. "Mr. Granger, I'm not sure how much your daughter has told you over the holidays other than maybe the fact that our world is at war," he said with a questioning tone in his voice, and waited for some kind confirmation of what they knew.

Jane Granger looked around the room quickly before nodding her head. "Hermione has told us the basics and maybe a little more. We know the story behind Harry Potter and what he means to your world and a few of the… misadventures… her and her friends have found themselves in over the years." She stated, giving the Headmaster a disapproving look when she said "misadventures". "She told us as much as she felt was safe, after being injured at the end of the last school year," she confirmed.

Albus nodded relived that he didn't need to explain everything to them, knowing that it would waste valuable time. "That's good to hear, very good to hear. This way I can start with the events that took place this past summer." Taking a sip of his ever-present tea, the Headmaster used it as an excuse to take a moment to gather his thoughts. "What I'm about to say will come as news to most of you, in fact all of you but Severus," he told the room's occupants. "I ask that you please not repeat anything that you learn here today," Dumbledore stated, and waited for the nods of acknowledgment before continuing.

"A few days after school let out for the year, I received an urgent owl from one of our student's guardian. It seems that the abuse that her nephew suffered at the hands of her husband and son, and to a lesser extent herself, began to get out of hand, in her opinion. That summer, she didn't notice it at first because her nephew did not come out of his room at all, and her husband told her that he was taking care of the boy." Pausing slightly at Severus's snort of disgust, he allowed the room to fall quiet once more before continuing. "She became suspicious after she hadn't seen him for four days, and when her husband and son were both out of the house for the day, took the offered chance to find out what was going on and entered his room. What she found finally made her see reason when it came to their treatment of the boy."

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Albus let his mind drift back to that Merlin-forsaken day. He must have remained quiet for a little longer than he thought, for he found Severus at his elbow with another cup of tea, gently urging him to drink, and tasted the distinct flavor of a calming draught laced in with the sweetness of the tea. With a second deep breath, he continued, his voice trembling slightly in rememberance of that day. "She found him bound, gagged and bloody. The wounds covering his body, along with the amount of blood around him, made her very much aware that he was very close to reaching the point of no return. Immediately knowing that she needed help, she took his owl and sent a letter to me. To prove that she was telling the truth she smeared some of the boy's blood at the end of the letter and sent it off. Now when the owl appeared here, she was exhausted, having worked herself extremely hard to get here, in time to save her master, by the looks of it, she made the trip in about half the time it normally would have taken. After reading the letter, I sent for both Poppy and Severus, who for the first time ever, to my recollection, didn't argue when I said that we needed to go immediately. There is no point in giving you all the details, for I know that the student in question would not want anyone else here to know exactly what happened, needless to say, though, the boy was brought here to be healed by Poppy with help from Severus, while I received a some what true accounting of his life from his Aunt."

Here the Headmaster stopped and braced himself. He was sure that he didn't know the full story, but what he did know was horrific. "Once again, I will not go into details with any of you as it's not my story to tell. I can tell you that by the end of the day, I had signed paper work leaving me Harry Potter's legal guardian. I can also say without any doubt that the Dursleys will not even think a bad thought about young Harry ever again." Here, he held up his hand to stop the cries of outrage by the Weasleys, even as his own eyes flashed in fury. Gathering himself once again, he continued, "Knowing that I could not give him the attention he needed or the training he required, Harry and I discussed what to do, and we finally agreed on a course of action. I sent him to a much smaller school in North America that, along with year round schooling, had the help Harry needed to deal with not only the years of abuse at the hands of those who should have loved him, but also what had happened to him here. Harry made the request to stay where he was for now, to get the training he needed from a few people who had befriended him, at least for the remainder of this school year." Dumbledore paused and took another sip of his tea as he waited for what he said to sink in. "And that brings us up to three weeks ago," he said, not allowing anyone to really dwell too long on what had happened to Harry or what the two of them had decided. Merlin knew the arguments with Severus he had had about the decision were enough, he still wasn't sure what caused Severus to back down, but had a good idea that Harry himself had something to do with it.

"Three weeks ago, two of our spies were discovered and barely escaped with their lives. It was only with the help of a third spy that they were able to escape and make it back here with some very important information; information that directly affects your children. We unfortunately had to wait for the three of them to wake up from their healing before we could get the information, and get a plan of action put together." Here, Dumbledore gave everyone a piercing look. "Voldemort has plans to take out everyone that Harry holds dear in order to bring him out of hiding. On top of that, the Malfoys and Professor Snape are now being hunted down as traitors to the Dark Lord."

The room remained silent for a few minutes before Arthur Weasley spoke up. "Who exactly is being targeted and what is being done to protect them?"

Albus locked eyes once again with everyone in the room for a moment before answering. "Voldemort is targeting all four of the younger Weasley children, Hermione, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, and Severus Snape. At the moment we are doing the only thing we really can do. With your permission, we are planning on sending everyone to Harry as he is not ready to come back home just yet. Now don't get me wrong, the only ones who have no say in this matter are the Malfoys and Severus. If you would like your children to remain close to home, I will do my best to keep them safe, no matter where they are. However, it is my belief that the only way for them not to be used against Harry is for them to be with him."

The two couples in the room shared a long look between themselves, silently communicating as they had done many times over the years. It was the Grangers who answered first, though.

"Hermione will go to Harry. We will do anything to keep our daughter safe," Greg said, pain for Hermione as well as the other children clear in his eyes.

"We agree," Molly said, Arthur nodding his head beside her.

Albus let out the breath he had been holding and saw both Severus and Lucius relax from their spots. Lucius, though, was not happy just sitting quietly. "When do we leave, Albus?" he asked softly.

The twinkle reappeared in the Headmaster's eyes as he looked around the room. "We will take a portkey tomorrow, after the other students leave for the holidays."

"We, Headmaster?" Severus questioned.

"Of course, my boy. I had planned to check on Harry over the break anyway. What better time then when you all go over?" Albus chuckled.

hp

The group of nine arrived at their destination in a small valley located somewhere in California near the end of the school day. The Headmaster turned to study the group, before he spoke about a few things they all needed to know. "There are a few things you need to know before I lead you up to the school. First, the laws for underage use of magic no longer apply to any of you, as the restriction is removed on your fourteenth birthday."

"And second Headmaster?" Snape sneered, already dreading the mischief the students around here could get into.

"Secondly, Harry Potter does not exist here. In his place is James Evans. The only difference in appearance is the glamour hiding his scar."

"Are there any other surprises we should be aware of, Headmaster?" Hermione asked, her tone of voice making all of the school-age boys wince.

"We'll just have to wait and see now won't we?" he replied before walking directly into the side of a hill and disappearing.

"How utterly typical," Hermione snorted before following.

Severus and Lucius exchanged looks of disbelief even as the Twins, Ron and Draco exchanged looks of amusement. They all knew what Hermione thought of the Headmaster not sharing relevant information. To many times information that could have saved everyone a lot of pain had been kept away from them. Seconds later, they all jumped when she reappeared, causing Ginny to fight back her laughter. "Well, are you coming? I for one can't wait to see my best friend again," she snapped at them.

A chorus of "Yes, 'Mione" echoed through the valley before the teens also disappeared.

Lucius and Severus both shared another long look, before Lucius voiced what they were both thinking. "Did I just see my son go off with the Weasels and a Muggle born? Happily?"

Severus just nodded his head in response, as he also could not believe what just happened. "Remind me to take that bunch and sit them down so we can figure out what's going on around here," he grumbled.

"Indeed."

The two of them entered the barrier, their longer strides making it easy for them to catch up with the rest of the group. In truth, this wouldn't have been hard to do anyway, as the rest of the group had stopped to view what looked like a bustling village and not the school they had been expecting.

No one bothered them as they made their way through the village to a building at the center that was the actual school until they passed the wards that protected others from dangers of misfired spells, amongst other things.

Severus, who had been walking slightly to one side of the group, found himself being pushed into the twins just as he felt the wash of magic over his skin and the sound of a barely perceivably gasp of pain come from whoever had shoved him.

"Lower your wand, Mr. Masterson," came a firm voice from behind him. With the help of the twins, Severus regained his footing and turned to see what was going on, a small shiver running down his spine at the sound of that voice.

"But Sir, do you know what that one and at least one more in that group are?" said a tall, well-built teen, his longish sandy hair rumpled and his dark blue eyes blazing with anger.

"What I know, Mr. Masterson, is that you attacked a man from behind with 'that curse', which I do believe has been banned from use for the foreseeable future." The young man who had pushed Severus returned. Even with his short stature, he oozed authority and power that those around him could actually feel. "Now, I shall say it one more time. Lower. Your. Wand," he ordered in a drawl that sounded like a certain Potions Master to any and all who had ever met him and causing the niggling sensation in the back of Severus' mind to confirm that this was one Harry Potter.

"You don't understand, Sir!" the teen tried again, frustration coloring his voice.

"What I understand is that you now have a month's worth of detention, for both attacking someone who has been invited here by the Headmistress, and for disobeying me. Tell me Mr. Masterson, would you like to make it two?"

Tyson Masterson paled dramatically for a moment before flushing in both shame and embarrassment. Bowing formally first to the young man and then to Severus, he made his apologies. "My apologies sir, I never thought before I acted, and that is an extremely poor excuse," he offered to Snape. "Professor Prince…" he started, only to trail off and lower his head in misery when he couldn't find the words.

"Tyson Masterson, I fully expect a three foot essay on the proper etiquette, treatment and respect due to visitors, that we demand from the students from this school, to be handed into me before class tomorrow. After that, I will inform you on just what you will be doing in _all_ your spare time for the next month. Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir." Tyson turned to walk away, only to find himself face to face with his mirror image, along with a shorter female version of himself. Groaning in dismay, he half turned around to see if anyone else was watching, only to find that most of the school stood watching the show, even if they were to far away to hear what was actually being discussed. Turning back to his siblings, they made a decision in the split second allowed them before all three distracted the students with the beginnings of one of their legendary fights.

"Tyson, how could you? Attacking visitors, and from behind at that! Don't you dare try to argue that fact with me, either. I saw what you did," the female started loud enough to be heard by those watching.

"Oh come on Tylan, can you honestly say that he doesn't look like Uncle Daniel? You agree with me right Tyrill?" Tyson argued back, turning to his brother.

Nodding his head Tyrill turned to face his sister, shoulder to shoulder with Tyson. "He's right, 'Lan. Even you can't argue with the fact that Uncle Daniel was one mean SOB."

'Lan looked between the two of them and allowed tears to gather in her eyes, although inside she was laughing her head off. "You… you always do that," she stuttered, holding back a "sob" that was more like laughter than anything else. "The two of you always gang up on me, especially when you know I'm right," she continued and finally let the crocodile tears flow down her cheeks. Pushing between the two boys, she moved into a set of waiting arms. "Jamie…" she whimpered.

James Prince, better known as Harry Potter, wrapped his arms around the crying girl and hid his smirk of amusement in her hair until he could control his reactions enough to scowl at the other two. "I will be seeing the two of you out on the field bright and early tomorrow morning. Don't worry, I'll supply a wake up call," he promised them both and was rewarded when they winced at the applied threat.

"Yes, Sir," they said together, turning on their heels and marching off with matching strides.

"Come on 'Lan, dry your tears and walk with us up the Headmistress' office," he whispered to her and, with a motion of his head, indicated for the others to follow him and the still shaking girl.

The trip to the Headmistress's office was made in silence, only occasionally broken by a barely suppressed sob from Tylan, mostly heard whenever they passed another student. As soon as the office door shut behind the last visitor, Harry pushed the girl away and grinned, "Alright 'Lan let it out, it's safe now." He watched amusedly as she broke down in laughter before turning to his friends. "Um… hi!" he said with a sheepish smile.

Hermione was the first to break out in a smile and, with a shake of her head, walked over to give him a tight hug. "Oh Harry, what have you gotten into this time?" she questioned.

Returning her hug with one of his own, he sighed. "Long story 'Mione, very long."

This was all it took for the Weasleys to pile around them in one giant group hug that started to take Harry's breath away.

"If you don't let Scarhead go, the Boy Who Lived will become The Boy Who Was Smothered To Death By His Friends," Draco sneered, effectively making everyone back off.

"Yeah right, Ferret; you just want everyone to get away from Harry so you can get him to yourself!" Ginny tossed back at him.

Rather then prove her wrong, Draco Malfoy, The Ice Prince of Slytherin, walked over and pulled Harry into a long hug, which was returned whole-heartedly. "Merlin I've missed you Harry," he said as he buried his face in the smaller boy's neck, much to the shock of the adults in the room.

"Me too Dray, more then I can say," Harry whispered back. He gave Draco another squeeze before pulling back and turning to his Headmaster. "Albus?" he questioned softly and was answered by a set of arms opening to accept him. Without a second thought Harry was in the old man's embrace, soaking up the comfort and warmth that he remembered from so many months earlier.

Feeling his knees start to go weak, Harry tried to pull away, only to feel himself be lowered to the floor, still wrapped in those arms. Forgetting everyone else around him he finally, after many months of concealing what he was feeling, let go of his last walls and cried himself out.

Other than Harry's muffled crying, no other sound was heard in the room. The only one not affected (as he had had the least amount of contact with this teen) was Lucius Malfoy, who with a glare from the Potions Master, kept his mouth shut.

A knock at the door brought everyone's attention away from Harry and Albus, and with a flick of her wand, Headmistress Anastasia Colbine had both Harry and Albus covered with both a sight and sound shield. "Enter," she called out.

The door opened and two identical faces came into view and, at Anya's beckoning, they both came into the room, closing the door behind them once more.

"We're sorry to intrude Ma'am, but we were wondering if you wanted us to help settle the others into the dorms or if you had other arrangements made for them," Tyson asked.

"No, Mr. Masterson, what you truly wanted to know was where Harry wanted his friends placed and if what he said about them was true," she replied with a sly grin

Tyrill gave her a sheepish grin and nodded his head. Glancing around the room a worried look crossed his face. "Where is Harry?" he questioned.

Not looking at the spot the two men were, she said, "At the moment he's indisposed."

"Is he alright?" Tyson questioned.

"I'm fine," Harry's voice said from the corner as he dispelled the shield around him and Albus, wiping the last of the tears from his face.

Tylan came and stood between her brothers, who looked at him in disbelief. "No you're not, but you will be now," she said and snapped her head to the side when she heard a snicker. "Yes?" she drawled out.

Hermione slapped both Ron and Draco before they could say anything. "Ignore them, they're just being prats. I'm glad to see someone is looking after Harry's wellbeing. Hopefully, he'll listen to you, more than he does me," she said with a smile.

Harry glanced at Hermione before turning his head and leaning towards the others. "Great, that's all I need, more Molly Weasley act-a-likes," he mock-whispered, which caused all of them to break out laughing while he grinned. "Alright, now, before I get into trouble for being rude," he said with a glance at Snape, "Let me introduce everyone." Once again, Harry was full of confidence.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Harry looked towards the Headmistress with an arched brow. Fully aware of a set of black eyes that followed his every move and who saw the mask for what it was, he motioned everyone into a chair, when Anya waved her hand to allow Harry to continue what he was doing with a small grin of amusement.

"Alright then, first, only in private am I known as Harry Potter, and yes everyone in this room is aware of who and what I am. I use to be known as James Evans, but due to things I'd rather not get into at this particular moment, I'm now called James Prince, although I get called either Jamie or Professor Prince." Without looking at her, Harry held out his hand. "Yes, 'Mione, I'll explain as we go. Next we have Headmistress Anastasia Colbine or Anya; Headmaster Albus Dumbledore; Potions Master Severus Snape—yes Tyson, you heard me correctly— Lord Lucius Malfoy; Draco Malfoy; Hermione Granger; Ron, Ginny, Fred and George Weasley—don't bother trying to tell Gred and Forge apart: they answer to the other's name. And, of course Tyson, Tyrill and Tylan Masterson who are triplets, in case you were wondering," he finished.

"Mr. Potter, one question if you please," a silky voice asked after everyone was acknowledged.

Knowing what was coming, Harry suppressed a smirk and bowed his head slightly towards the other man. "Of course, Professor Snape, if it's within my abilities, I would be most pleased to answer your question."

Snape raised his eyebrow at the teen for his answer and sneered slightly. "Pray tell, 'Professor Prince' what do you teach?" he asked, stressing both the title and the name.

Checking the distance between him and Snape, he walked over until he stood behind Dumbledore for added protection. "Why, Defense and Potions, of course."

Snape contemplated going after the teen regardless of his position behind Albus. "That, young man, is not something you should be joking about," he started, only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Actually he's telling the truth. He's been teaching those classes since the Fall. In fact, he took one look at the potions classroom and refused to step into it. He then compared both my Defense and Potions professors to someone named Lockhart, and when they challenged him on it, proceeded to knock them down in a duel, repeatedly, until they could no longer got back up. The worst part was he took them on at the same time," Anya told them all.

"Surely the weren't that bad," Draco murmured in the shocked silence.

"Neville would have been a better instructor then those two combined when he was in his first year," Harry replied dryly.

Harry watched as all those who knew Neville winced in horror at the thought, and nodded his head happy that they understood just what he thought of the morons who had taught the subjects he had taken over.

Ron shuddered deeply, before looking at Harry. "Why wouldn't you go into the classroom though mate?" he asked.

Making sure the coast was clear, Harry settled himself and curled up comfortably in the only available chair: the one next to Snape. "Have you ever wondered why we hold potion classes in the dungeon?" he asked instead.

Ron looked puzzled but Hermione answered for him. "It's because sunlight can damage many of the ingredients."

Harry nodded his head, before explaining the reason behind the question. "The potions classroom, before I moved it, was located in a bright and airy room on the third floor. And just to let you know, Anya was very much mistaken. I entered the room long enough to grab the vial of basilisk venom that Jones was waving around in front of a class of second years, canceled the class and dragged the twit up here."

Snape jumped to his feet and started pacing along the length of the room, swearing under his breath. "BASILISK VENOM!! He allowed that… that…"

"Extremely rare and the most lethal of poisons into sunlight in front of unprotected, unprepared students?" Harry suggested calmly.

"Precisely." Turning to look at Harry, his eyes seemed to glow in fury. "Tell me you disposed of it properly," he growled.

"Of course I did. I also tried to find out where the fool got it from, but Anya stopped me."

"I stopped you, young man, because you where ranting at Jones with the vial in your hand still. We all thought that you were going to use the venom on him. Merlin knows it took us a half an hour to calm you down so that we could understanding what you where saying. All we could hear was hissing."

"Of course I was hissing! I was holding a vial of venom, and all I could think of was thisss huge sssnake!" Harry exclaimed, the words drawing out slightly in Parseltongue, as fury once more colored his voice.

Both Malfoys shuddered slightly holding back the slight fear they felt at the sound of Parseltongue hissed in anger. Severus, for his part, took a good look at Harry and walked over to calmly place a hand on his shoulder.

Feeling the contact Harry took a few deep breaths and nodded his head in thanks as he felt both his anger as well as the Potions Masters anger drain away from them both, and then looked around the room. He was the only one who saw the calculating expression on Anya's face. "Sorry about that. It's not often I think about snakes and get angry at the same time."

Albus waved it away as he shot a questioning look between Harry and Anya. "Who is we?"

Harry winced and turned pleading eyes on the Headmistress, clearly asking her not to say anything at the moment. Unfortunately for him, she just smiled at Albus, totally ignoring Harry.

"Thankfully, this room is large enough to hold everyone," she mused softly, before brightening. "Who I'm talking about is a group of… people… who took an instant liking to Harry. Such a strong liking that they adopted him into each of their families," she explained, and then asked cheerfully, "Would you like to meet them?"

"We would be delighted to meet Harry's family. Myself more so then the others I believe as I am his legal guardian," Albus said. The twinkle in his eyes could not hide the slight sadness in his voice.

Harry slumped in defeat, before getting up from his spot. Touching the old man's shoulder gently, he gave a silent apology before he folded himself on the floor by Snape's feet, so he was between both him and the elder Malfoy. "Thank you so much Headmistress. I was hoping to put this off for at least another few hours," he said, sarcasm dripping off his tongue.

"You are very welcome Harry," was the sweet reply. "Now if you would be kind enough to call the others in for me please"

Rolling his eyes, Harry leaned back against Snape's chair. "May I introduce to you my Lord Father, K'lal Overlord and King of the Demon Realms; his eldest son and Heir, as well as my eldest brother, Lord Bane; my lady Mother Azera Queen of the Fae, and her eldest son and heir, as well as my brother Lord Haze; my lady Sister Iris Queen of the Elves and her Heirs and our sisters Lady Shay and Lady Jedzia," Harry said with a sigh, waiting for what he knew would be utter chaos.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Once again many thanks to Periculum for her beta work. Without her I'm sure everyone would be out for my head.

Chapter Two.

As Harry stated names, much to the amazement of his friends and family from back home, each of the beings shimmered into focus within the room. K'lal, being the first, had the most time to assess the others within the room and focused immediately on the dark magic rolling off two of the men. As the last of those called materialized into the room, he threw a fireball in their direction and was surprised when it met a woven fire and ice shield. Looking down at his son, he growled, only to have the young man growl back at him in anger.

Not bothering to lower the shield until his father's temper had cooled slightly, Harry turned to Anya. "And this would be the reason why I didn't want to introduce them, until after I had talked to K'lal. If Tyson picked up on the Dark Mark as quick as he did, I have no doubts that Father would have as well."

"And here I thought you were just avoiding the subject all together," Tylan laughed.

"Yeah well, it would have been nice if I had been allowed to explain it to both sides without anyone losing their tempers," Harry grumbled, lowering the shield but keeping his eyes on the Demon Lord.

"Dark Marks? You brought servants of the Cursed One into my school?" Anya demanded, outraged, glaring between Harry and Albus.

Sliding his eyes over to the Headmistress, Harry barely suppressed another growl when he saw a hint of fang peeking out of Anya's mouth. "Control yourself, Headmistress! No harm will come to anyone within this school. They are not the servants you think them to be."

Calming down slightly, Anya sat back in her chair and narrowed her gaze on Harry, who still sat on the floor at Snape's feet. "You trust them?"

"With my life!"

"And you will vouch for them while they remain in this school?"

"One hundred per cent. Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy are both honorable men, who have risked their lives many times as spies for the light."

"Very well then. Gentlemen, you both have my apologies. I take the safety of my school seriously. On the other hand, I must also remember that Harry would not risk anyone around him, and trust his judgment."

"Your apologies are unnecessary, Madam," Lucius stated calmly, while Severus inclined his head briefly.

"Good then, that's settled. Is it safe for me to move, or must I defend them once again from any more attacks?" Harry asked, sending a glare towards K'lal.

A musical laugh sounded as Azera conjured herself a chair made out of ice and sat down. "No, Ishal, I do believe that you have made your point abundantly clear."

"Thank you, Lady Mother. Then perhaps we can get down to business once again," Harry replied and stood smoothly, moving over to reclaim his chair.

"Yes, of course. Let's get the children settled and perhaps they can be given a tour. Maybe by these three students?" Albus questioned, knowing that the conversation to follow would be hard for Harry to take.

"Of course, Albus. I have gone over the transcripts you had sent over earlier, so that I had a clear idea on where to place them all. I found it best to enroll all of them into the sixth year here. I'm sure it won't take them long to catch up with the other students, and Fred and George will fit in perfectly with them as well," Anya stated.

Harry's head snapped up from where it had been resting against the back of the chair and his eyes grew wide in horror. "Are you insane, Anya? I know that Albus is off his rocker, but I honestly thought you had more sense than that."

"Whatever are you going on about, Ishal?" Iris asked in confusion.

Harry wasn't paying any attention to her. Instead, he had taken up pacing across the length of the room, muttering to himself in a mixture of five languages, and finally settled on Parseltongue as he ranted.

"ISHAL!" Bane demanded. "Would you please explain to us, in a language more than just you can understand, what exactly has you so worked up?"

Harry turned and looked at his older brother, before glancing at the others in the room. "I had forgotten that you were not here when I introduced the others." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Anya has just decided to put the Weasley twins in the same year as the Masterson triplets."

Haze's eyes grew round in dismay before turning on Anya. "How could you?" he whined.

"I fail to see what the problem is, Mr. Potter," Severus drawled.

"Let me put this in terms that everyone will understand. Anya has just combined the Marauders of Hogwarts with the Marauders of Haven."

Anya went pale, Snape's mask dropped, Lucius twitched and Albus twinkled. All in all Harry was most satisfied with the results of his little announcement. In the silence that followed, Harry looked over to see the twins and the triplets looking at each other in glee, while Ginny, Ron and Draco tried to contain their smiles.

Looking at the clock, Harry then looked over at the triplets. "There are three extra rooms in the dorm. If you three would be kind enough to show these guys where to go and give them a brief tour before dinner, I would greatly appreciate it."

Tylan smiled warmly at Harry before standing, once more slipping into the names that they used outside of a warded room. "Of course, Jamie, we would be delighted." Linking her hands around the arms of the Weasley twins, she directed everyone out the door, talking all the way. "I'm sure you will all love it here, although it will come as a huge shock. I was positively appalled when Jamie first explained the House system you all have at Hogwarts. Here we are not kept away from the others the same way, as all students in single year share the same dorms..." Her voice faded away as the door closed behind them.

Harry sighed softly as he turned back to the adults and gave Albus a small smile. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're here, and it's wonderful to see the others once again, but why are you here?

"Straight to the point, my boy," Albus chuckled softly, glad that Harry had not changed too much. "A few weeks ago, Severus and Draco were both found out as spies. Lucius managed to get them out before permanent damage could occur, but in the process he blew his own cover. The last piece of information that they were able to bring out was Riddle's plans to draw you out of hiding."

"And those plans are what, exactly?" K'lal demanded to know.

"It seems Riddle was going to actively seek out and kill those closest to Harry. It was deemed safer to bring them here for protection rather than leaving them in England."

Harry had gone pale by the end, only to flush with the beginnings of anger. "Who decided? Were there other options, other than here, or did you just tell everyone without giving them a choice? I warn you now, Albus, I will not allow anyone to stay unless they are here by their own free will!"

"ISHAL!" Azera exclaimed, horrified at the accusation.

"No, no, My Lady, he has a point. Throughout his life, I had been making decisions of this sort on Harry's behalf without consulting with anyone else," Albus placated, "but I guarantee that everyone here but Severus and the Malfoys, has been given a choice on what to do. I also had the agreement of their parents, after I had explained the matter to them."

Before Harry could react to this statement, Snape placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Relax. I knew the moment I woke up from Poppy's care that I would be coming here. In fact if Albus had not ordered it, I would have suggested it myself."

Lucius also wanted to reassure the young man. "Severus is correct. As soon as I was told where we were going, I understood that it was the safest place for us. Mr. Potter, we may not have gotten along with each other before, but I do understand the best way through this, for both myself and my son, is to be at your side."

Grumbling slightly under his breath, Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Alright," he agreed, "now we just need to figure out how to keep the two of you occupied during your stay."

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm sure we'll find something for them to do while they're here," Anya grinned at him.

Sending a quick glare her way, he almost growled once again at her amusement but gave it up as a lost cause. "I'm not going back as a full time student, Anya."

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart! I wouldn't do that to you."

"As you say, Anya. Just giving you a friendly warning."

Twin sets of tinkling laughter that sounded more like a playful breeze dancing among the trees caught the attention of all the adults. "Ishal, our dear brother, you do realize that if she does make you go back to being a full time student, we would just steal you away and teach you everything that they didn't want you to learn, yes?" Shay commented, while Jedzia gave the 'they' in question an evil grin.

Bane, catching on, gave the girls a mockingly blank look, and glanced over at Haze. "Aren't we already doing that?"

Playing along with the others, Harry cast a fearful look at the adults and whined to his brother. "Baaane, we promised we wouldn't mention that."

Unable to keep it up once Snape smacked Harry upside the head, Haze broke down in helpless laughter and the others shared an amused glance before joining him.

Albus allowed Harry's carefree laughter to wash over him, and knew he had made the right choice to send him here. He had, after last summer, feared that he would never hear it again. Clearing his throat softly, he sent a fond smile at his young charge. "Harry, my boy, perhaps you can explain to us how you became a family with these wonderful people."

The laughter immediately died, and Harry's eyes became shuttered as he curled himself up in his chair. His siblings didn't even think before moving to surround him with gentle touches, letting him know that they were there. Severus, seeing his distress, also laid a calming hand at the nape of the young man's neck and gently started rubbing. A faint whisper of sound from Iris had Harry nodding, and without dislodging Snape's hand, he moved so he was lying with his head on the arm closest to the Potions Master.

Clearing her throat, and drawing attention away from Harry, Iris started the story. "When Harry first came here, he had only one thing on his mind: find a way to destroy the evil that plagued his life. Days turned into weeks, and during that time he rarely left the Library. No one really questioned it, until one day when he was walking through the woods, and he collapsed. I found him, shortly after, and I knew that if I had ignored my feelings that something was wrong, I never would have found him in time to save him." She paused.

"What had happened?" Albus questioned.

"He was dying. He had started out having headaches, which progressed to being unable to eat or sleep, and finally his magic just refused to support his body any longer. The only thing that was keeping him even remotely on his feet was the fact that if he died he needed to take the Cursed One with him."

The hand slowly giving comfort to Harry stopped, and with a low growl he swept the young man out of his chair and into his lap. "Why, Harry?"

Dull green eyes looked up at him, filling with tears. "I didn't know, Sir. Honestly, I was trying to kill myself, and it wasn't until I woke up with Shay and Jedzia lying on either side of me that I realized something was wrong," he answered quietly, his voice hitching as he tried to swallow back the tears.

"Can you tell us what was wrong with him, Lady?" Lucius asked.

"Ishal?" Iris questioned, and only received a nod of the head in response. Sighing softly, she continued. "I had my healers go over him, but nothing was showing up with the scans. We were slowly losing him, a little more with each hour that passed, and I finally decided to call in help," she said, motioning to Azera and K'lal. "After they examined him, we still could find nothing wrong, and with his magical levels falling quickly, we knew we had to do something fast. It was decided that we needed to boost his levels, but as we are not human, the only way to do so was to adopt him to our blood, and then use the bond formed to bolster his magic with our own." Conjuring a glass of honey mead, Iris took a few sips and motioned for Azera to continue, while keeping a careful watch on her brother and the man he was curled around.

Picking up the tale, Azera leaned forward in a bid to gather everyone's attention. "What you must realize is that for us to boost his magic we had to share our blood. Blood, no matter what kind, records a Being's history. Everything that they are is recorded within it, you but have to be able to 'read' it. With our blood we gave Harry our history, customs, and language; We also gave him the building blocks needed to secure whatever talents he received from us and the knowledge that our children are given in their early years. In the reading of his blood we found out his history. Everything that was done to him, every obstacle that he was forced to overcome, much too early in his young life. And much to our joy and horror, we found out what was wrong with him."

K'lal, knowing this part would be the hardest for the ladies to tell, waved Azera to silence. "When a traumatic experience happens to someone, they automatically seek out the one thing that will help keep them balanced. In Harry's case the balancing force was the one place that could ever be called home. When the decision was made to move him here, he once again lost his 'balance', even though it was his own choice to make. What he didn't realize was that his soul had also taken it upon itself to find its one true mate. The combination of losing his balance and his mate almost destroyed him."

"Harry, my boy. Why didn't you ever tell me?" Albus asked sadly.

Turning his head so he could look the older man in the eye, Harry had the grace to blush. "Once you found out, you would have either pulled me home, or made my mate come here. I didn't what them to feel they were being pressured into a situation that they didn't want."

"I would never…" Albus tried to say, but at the knowing look in Harry's eyes he stopped.

"Yes, you would have. We all know it. You have made it your job since that Halloween to keep me safe and happy, or at least you've made that attempt. This would have been one more of those decisions you would have made for the 'Greater Good'."

Knowing that the teen was right, Albus elected not to contradict him. Everyone knew there was nothing he would not sacrifice to keep Harry from becoming hurt once more.

Lucius followed the conversation closely, one question repeating in his mind. "Obviously, since Harry is here, alive and healthy, you managed to do something. Can you tell us what it was?"

Haze snorted in amusement. "That was both the easy part and the hard part. The easy part was convincing his soul that his mate had not abandoned him, and was actually just waiting for his healing and training to be complete. The hard part was keeping him distracted so that he didn't dwell on it and slip into depression."

"And how did you do that?" Severus asked in a soft growl.

"We tormented the poor boy. Wouldn't leave him alone for a minute. Every time he started to think he was alone, someone or other popped up," Haze told him.

Grinning madly, Bane continued. "We even managed to get the animals and wood sprites to keep an eye on him. The look on his face the first time one of the drakes came into the room with him was priceless."

"Don't forget the hellhounds and hellcats," Shay added.

Shimmering green words formed in the air where everyone could see them. /I'm surprised the tribe is not here with him now./ Jedzia finally added to the conversation.

"They're outside the door," Harry mumbled, clearly not impressed with his siblings' antics.

"Ah, that would explain it," Shay answered for her sister.

"Well, that certainly is interesting," Albus said, trying to take everything in. "I have only one question that I would like to clear up at this time."

"And that would be?" Azera asked, although she had a suspicion on what it was.

"My boy, do you know who your mate is?"

Everyone with non-human blood turned and glared at the headmaster, not pleased with the question.

Clearly not expecting the question himself, Harry shot out of Snape's embrace and started looking for an escape route.

"Harry?" Albus questioned.

Not looking at his guardian, Harry slowly nodded his head.

"Do you care to tell us who it is?"

"No," Harry stated firmly. "I don't want him to feel obligated."

"You can't really think…" Albus tried again.

"I don't know what to think," Harry replied, cutting him off. "I'm sorry, I'm not ready for this conversation." Turning to Anya, he pleaded with his eyes for an excuse to leave the room.

Smiling sadly, Anya looked up at the clock. "Dinner will be served in little bit. Why don't you show Professor Snape and Mr. Malfoy to their rooms, if they so choose?"

Nodding gratefully, Harry turned to the two men in question. "If you wish, I can take you both now. Or you can stay here and someone can show you the way after dinner."

Lucius declined the invitation, but Severus stood right away. "Lead the way, Mr. Potter."

Quickly leading the way out of the office, Harry stopped for a moment when he was surrounded by a dozen small animals. Shooing them off, Harry indicated the hallway to the right and set an easy pace. "Anya believed it would be best to put Mr. Malfoy in the family wing. You, on the other hand, she put with the only other professor that does not already have a roommate."

"And who would that be?"

"Me."

"I see. And must I put up with the friends you have amongst the students as well?"

"No, actually. The hallway leading to the teachers' rooms is actually charmed so that no one can find it unless they are personally keyed in by a professor, especially the students. Even Mr. Malfoy will be unable to gain access to them unless led here by someone else."

Nodding once to indicate his understanding, Severus continued keep pace with the young man in silence, trying to see how far he could push to get the answers that he wanted. "James?"

"I know you want answers, but can it wait for a few minutes. We're almost there."

Minutes later, Harry grabbed hold of his companion's arm and before Severus' eyes, an archway formed, leading off to the left. A quick gesture and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine that he realized keyed him into the wards.

They moved down the hallway and presently Harry stopped in front of a heavy wood door. "It reads your magical signature so that you don't need a password. All you need to do is place your hand on the door," Harry explained, and waited for the older man to do just that.

Leading Severus into the apartment, he pointed out the different rooms. "There's really not much here since I have a cottage on the other end of the Village were I stay. Over there you have the three bedrooms, the middle one is mine so you have your choice of the other two. Bathroom, dining room, this sitting room, and in the kitchen are the stairs leading down to the lab."

Checking out the bedrooms, Severus glanced inside Harry's before picking the one on the left for his stay. After un-shrinking his bags, he stepped back out and found Harry gazing out of the sitting room window, lost in thought. He joined Harry by the window and wrapped one arm around the young man, pulling him close. "Will you answer a few questions for me?"

Leaning back into the warmth, Harry nodded his head. "I'll try."

"Is Draco your mate?"

"No. Unless things have changed since our last letter, he's going out with Gin."

"When did you become friends?"

"He started writing to me during the summer before fifth year. When school started, we put aside our differences and started to become friends. The others didn't like it much to begin with but over that year, despite Umbridge, we all became friends."

Turning Harry around so that he could see his face, Severus became serious. "Why are you calling me Sir again? I thought we had at least become friends."

Harry allowed his head to drop and rest on Severus' shoulder. "I wasn't sure how you wanted to handle it here, so I decided to go with caution."

"I can understand that, as long as you remember that by all rights you are no longer my student. In fact you can say that we are now colleagues."

"I guess we are."

"Why do you sleep in a ritual room?"

Harry snorted softly and pulled away. "Not just any ritual room, but the most heavily warded ritual room that we could come up with," he said with a small laugh.

"You still haven't told me why."

Harry sobered up quickly. "My nightmares, when I arrived here, were really bad. It came to the point that I couldn't keep a hold on my magic. It was decided that I needed to be placed in a warded room to protect those around me. After I was adopted, we found out that even a warded room wasn't safe during the night, and that was with a dreamless sleep potion. The family came together and created this ritual room for me. It takes any magic that leaks out in my sleep and redirects it somewhere useful like the wards around this village. On a bad night, the magic actually gets transferred first to the wards and the extra to a focus stone in the demon realms. It keeps things here calm."

Severus' eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Merlin, Harry, how much magic can you leak?"

Harry's eyes turned troubled. "On a bad night I would be able to tear down and then rebuild the wards around Hogwarts in about ten minutes. On a good night I would be able to recharge them to full strength. I have the magic to bring down the Dark Twit, I just can't bring it up while I'm awake," he explained in a soft voice.

Severus stared at him in surprised silence for a few minutes before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No one has found a way to ground your magic yet?"

Needing something to do with his hands, Harry motioned for his former professor to follow him down to the lab. He checked the time and realizing he didn't have enough of it to start a potion before dinner, he started going over lesson plans for the next day.

Severus allowed him to work in silence for a few minutes while going over the lab, nodding his head in satisfaction as he went. After several minutes had passed, he stopped beside Harry once more and gently covered the younger man's hands with his own. "Harry?" he questioned softly.

Sighing at the question, Harry looked up into those onyx eyes and tried to smile. "The others have tried many different ways but none of them worked. K'lal, Azera and Iris are now of the opinion that only one other thing will actually do the job properly."

"Your mate?" came the oh–so-calm question.

"Yes, my mate!" Harry sneered. "At the moment, everything rests on him. But at the same time no one knows exactly what else may happen. My magic may finally settle down and remain at the same level it is at now, or I might come into a full non-human inheritance. And if that happens, which one will I get, or will I get them all..." his rant finally trailed off into a whisper.

Severus stepped fully around the lab table and pulled the smaller man into his arms once again. Allowing the shaking teen time to regain his composure. When Harry calmed down again he drew away slightly and tilted Harry's chin up so that he could see the brilliant green eyes. "I know answering my questions is hard on you, but I'm just trying to understand what's going on so that I can help you better."

"I know that, Severus, and I trust you. If I didn't we wouldn't be talking right now," Harry replied softly, tucking his head back under Severus' chin.

"How much power do you have control over at the moment?"

"I have complete control of all of it separately. It's only when all four aspects of it blend together when I sleep that it scares everyone."

"And terrifies you, too," Severus added, knowing the young man in his arms well enough to understand what wasn't said, and felt Harry nod his head in agreement.

The two of them stood like that for a few minutes before another thought occurred to Severus. "How does your power work with your emotions?"

Laughing softly, Harry pulled away and started cleaning up the mess he had made of his work area. "One of the ways that the others used to try and ground me was an amulet that they empowered with a bit of themselves. We found that it works best to ... absorb ... the magical backwash created by my emotions, so I only appear slightly less powerful then I really am."

"How Slytherin of you, Harry," Severus drawled in amusement.

Before Harry could reply, a deep voice rumbled through the room in a barely controlled growl. "Ishal is the ultimate Slytherin. After all, he is my son."

Chuckling softly when he noticed Severus stiffen in surprise, Harry walked over and gave the demon a one armed hug. "Is Albus still alive?" he questioned, ignoring what K'lal said about being Slytherin.

"Of course your grandfather is alive," K'lal sneered.

"Uh huh," Harry smirked back. "Mother and Iris threatened to stomp on you if you didn't behave, didn't they?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, K'lal glared at his son. "I have a message from your brothers. They said if you're not up for dinner in five minutes, they are going to come hunting in order to defend your honor."

Harry glared at the demon even as he blushed. "And how long ago did they give you this message?"

His answer came in the form of Bane and Haze appearing in the lab, facing Severus. Both of their hands glowed as the each brought forth their own elemental powers to bear. Bane moved towards the Potions Master, and Haze started to move Harry towards the door, further away from being able to help Severus if it was needed.

A surge of anger swept through Harry, and without conscious thought a deep growl rumbled from his throat, causing everyone to freeze. "Step back, Bane," he ordered, his voice taking on the texture of rough gravel.

"Ishal?" Bane questioned nervously.

A warm wind whipped around the lab when no one moved. Harry's eyes started to tint red, glaring at his brother as his anger starting to drive the power that he held. "Back away from Severus now!" he demanded once again.

Severus, seeing that no one wanted to become a target, took the situation into his own hands and moved directly in front of the furious young man. "Mr. Potter, this behavior of yours is most unwelcome. Please refrain from repeating it in my presence," he sneered in his silkiest voice, while placing his hands on Harry's shoulders.

Harry's anger drained away in a matter of seconds as he processed what was said. "Does that mean I'm allowed to have a fit when you're not here?"

"Yes," was the immediate answer, "now tell me what set you off this time."

"They threatened you," came the matter of fact statement.

"They were protecting you," Severus stated.

"I don't need protection from you. I never have."

"Be that as it may, you shouldn't loose your temper like that."

Bane, who had moved to stand with his father, snorted. "Yeah, Ishal, when you lose your temper, it's downright scary."

Severus dropped one arm and wrapped the other one so it lay around the smaller man's waist. "Imbecile! Of course that's not the reason. He uses up too much energy and his sugar levels drop far below where they should be. The only thing keeping him on his feet is my arm. Now if the three of you don't mind leading the way, I do believe that you mentioned something about dinner," he sneered.

Haze and Bane shared a glance and looked back and forth between Harry and Severus. Much to the dark wizard's disgust, the answer was not in a any language that he could understand. One was in the light tinkling language of the Fae, and the other in the guttural growls of the demonic. Both had K'lal laughing and Harry groaning in dismay. "Would one of you like to repeat that?" Severus questioned.

"Not if they know what's good for them," Harry half growled. Summoning a small flask from across the room, he popped the top off and drained the energy booster. Seeing Severus' questioning look, he explained. "Both Jones and the idiot Jarvis will be at dinner tonight. If I appear weak in any way they'll attempt to rip me apart."

"It will be the last such attempt," Severus stated calmly, much to the amusement of K'lal.

"There is that, I suppose," Harry said thoughtfully. "I'm just going to love the looks on their faces when they find out who came for dinner." He snickered, and refused to say more on the subject as he led the way to the dining hall.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Once again many thanks to Periculum for her beta work. Without her I'm sure everyone would be out for my head.

Chapter Three.

Harry allowed Severus to continue to hold him up on the trip to the Dining Room, for two reasons. First, he really could not have made it all the way on his own, and second because being near Severus once again was too much of a temptation. Much to his disgust, his two brothers had decided to walk in front of him and Severus and his father slightly behind, all of them boxing Harry in case he needed help in some way; more likely it was to make sure that Severus didn't do anything. Even with Harry's word that the older wizard would do nothing to hurt him, and in fact had saved his life on more than one occasion, they really didn't want to trust him due to the Dark Mark branded onto his left arm.

Growling slightly in frustration, both from the comments his brothers were trading too low for Severus to hear, and the slow pace that they had been forced to travel at due to his weakness, Harry focused his will, and pulled his legs up so that he was floating on nothing, much to the surprise of his human companion.

"James!" Severus hissed in concern, reminding himself not to say Harry's real name where others could over hear. "You really shouldn't be doing that right now; you're just needlessly draining what little of your reserves you have available to you."

Smiling slightly at the older man, Harry laid a reassuring hand on Severus' shoulder. "Relax Sev'rus; I'm not using my own power to do this. I only used enough to actually weave a web from the elemental energy that naturally flows off my brothers, with a touch of Father;s to keep everything stable," he stated softly. "If my sisters were here right now, I would be able to use their elemental powers as well, in order to recharge my own reserves."

Thinking that through for a moment, Severus could not find fault with the idea. "I take it your…sisters… have different elemental powers?"

Directing the weave holding him mentally, Harry shifted so that he was floating backwards. "Exactly, Jedzia is an Earth Mage, and Shay is an Air adept. Haze and Bane are also at the adept levels in their respected elemental powers, Water and Fire."

Severus watched as Harry's eyes lit up with an inner fire and did his best to hide the smile he could feel coming on, not realizing the softening of his own eyes. "And what of your parents and Eldest sister?" he questioned softly, sliding a hesitant glance at K'lal.

Seeing the look, Harry laughed softly. "Masters in their areas of expertise." Seeing Severus' slightly confused look, Harry explained further. "Each elemental has control of different parts of the element themselves. For instance, Shay is a Mage, and can control the very ground you walk on, but she has problems with plants of any kind which also are found under the things that are associated with an earth element. Jedzia, on the other hand, loves to create storms, but would rather spend her day conversing mentally with the beasts of the Air."

Nodding his head in understanding, Severus gave the young man a searching look. "And you?"

Blushing slightly Harry turned around so he was facing forward again. "I dabble in a little bit of everything."

"He's a genius with animals, no matter what element they are stronger with," K'lal stated with obvious pride.

"He's figured out how to weave all four elements together in their most raw form to do pretty much anything he wants," Azera stated, shimmering into view beside K'lal, and startling Severus slightly with her sudden intrusion into the conversation.

"Plants twine around him whenever he walks outside," Shay stated quietly, adding her opinion.

/He plays tag with the flying animals without any other support than the cooperation of the air. / Jedzia's words glimmered gently in the air where the Potions Master could see them.

Iris, having arrived with Azera, Shay and Jedzia, watched from her own set of shadows as the family's pride allowed them to speak with such honesty about their newest family member, without taking into account what their words were costing the young man they were so proud of. A young man who strived hard every day to come across as 'normal' to ever one – both humans and non humans - around him. Watching the frustration mount in Harry's eyes, she focused briefly on the Potions Master and could see a slight sense of awe forming, and realized that she needed to be the one to protect her little brother from this newest kind of fame.

Stepping out of the shadow and directly beside Severus, she gently laid one hand on his arm and gave him a chiding look, silently asking him not to change the way he viewed Harry. "Like Ishal has already stated, he dabbles in a little bit of everything." Turning, she allowed the air around her to grow slightly warm in a clear warning to the others to drop the subject. "Anya was wondering what was taking you so long. It appears that Jones is here and he has brought a most distinguished guest with him."

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Harry allowed his original weave of fire and ice to combine with the energies his sisters freely offered and boosted himself back up to full power, leaving him with an extremely hollow stomach that demanded to be filled very soon. "Do you know who?" he asked softly, allowing his feet to touch the ground once again, and sent Iris a thankful look.

Eyes lighting up slightly in malicious humor, Iris allowed herself a small evil grin. "Someone who you supposedly know. I would tell you more, but I really don't think I should ruin this surprise."

Narrowing his eyes slightly at his sister, Harry finally shrugged his shoulders, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get anymore out of the elf, and fell into step with Severus. He allowed his senses to bask in the love his family was sending his way, and that he in turn was subconsciously allowing Severus Snape to feel as well.

The ruling members of three of the non-human races shared grins before fading away, only to reappear moments later and alerting the staff to be aware of the fun that was about to begin.

~~OoO~~

Harry soaked in the genuine feelings of caring and love his siblings sent to him, and allowed them to bolster his already fragile emotional control. The events from earlier that day had sent his mind spinning and he wasn't sure if he would be able to control it without having to withdraw into his own little haven. Sending a furtive look towards the dark wizard walking beside him, he wondered just how much he would need to hide from the older man, knowing that some thing' were better left unsaid. Turning into the last short hallway that led to the dining room, Harry almost choked in surprise and grabbed hold of Severus, pulling him back the way they had just come. "Dear Merlin, doesn't the man ever quit?" he hissed to his siblings.

Jedzia carefully looked around the corner and quickly turned back to her siblings, a look of unholy glee in her eyes. /is that who I think it's supposed to be? / She asked, her words dancing in the air.

The other three double checked, and nodded their heads before trading sly looks, their own eyes lighting up to match Jedzia's.

"What is going on here?" Severus demanded to know, grabbing hold of his temper with all his self control.

Slightly unfocused green eyes settled on him, and Harry held up one finger in bid for silence. "I told you that Jones and Jarvis were coming for dinner tonight right? And that if I showed up in a weakened position they would attempt to rip me apart?" Receiving only a raised eyebrow in answer, Harry continued with his explanations. "Those two have been taking turns over the past few months to attempt to win back their jobs. It looks like this time that Jones is going to try and pass off an impostor. I assume the impostor is supposed to tell Anya that he has never seen me before, therefore making what I told her about my education a complete lie."

Narrowing his eyes in anger, Severus glared at the five siblings. "Who exactly has he brought with him?"

Harry's eyes cleared completely when he heard the anger in dark voice, and stopped paying attention to the conversation he had been bringing to his ears on the air currents. "Promise me that you will let us deal with this impostor, and I'll tell you," he stated grimly.

Severus stared at Harry for a few moments, trying to see if the young man would back down, so he noticed the way that Harry's eyes flickered back and forth quickly. Glancing around at the others, he saw they were all doing the same, and realized that they were speaking to each other in a way he would never be able to understand. When Harry's eyes stopped flickering and looked at him with determination, he realized that they had been discussing what to do with him if he decided not to agree with them. "Yes," he finally answered.

With a subtle flick of a finger, Harry placed one of the strongest silencing charms he knew around the group of them and smiled. "The man following Jones like a love-sick puppy will be going by the name of Severus Snape."


	4. Chapter 4

It's late. I know that and I apologize. No excuse I can give will do justice to this little fact, especially since I've had the beta'd version on my computer for awhile now.

Once again many thanks to Periculum for her beta work. Without her I'm sure everyone would be out for my head.

And finally….

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter Four

With a growl that had Bane step back slightly in respect, Severus tried to push his way past Harry and his sisters, only to meet a solid wall of air that kept him in the circle the five siblings had created. "Let me show this imbecile what it means to be me," he snarled.

Harry calmly placed his hand on the centre of Severus' chest and pushed slightly, rocking the potions master back half a step. "You promised to let us deal with this, Sev'rus," Harry stated, green eyes darkening with determination and anger.

"What exactly do you plan on doing, Harry? What could be more effective than allowing me to take him on?" Severus sneered.

"Utter humiliation," Harry told him, his eyes finally lighting up to match his siblings'. "Since he is on our territory, we will deal with this as we see fit. It's about time these fools realize that I'm not playing games here." A slight smile crossed his face, as he gave Severus a sly look. "I promise to let you have your say, if you promise to stay right next to me, and allow one of us to do the talking first."

Severus considered it for a moment before nodding his agreement, a slight shiver going down his spine at the unholy light that flashed in the eyes of all five siblings. "As you wish."

Harry grinned slightly. "I'm going to place a slight notice-me-not spell on you," he said, waving his hand slightly over the Potions Master, "nothing drastic, but it's going to be enough so that no one will think twice over who you are. Then it's just going to be business as normal."

"You really don't have a plan do you, James?" Severus asked, realizing that the silencing ward had come down at the same time the spell was placed on him.

"Kinda hard to make a plan when I don't know how the idiot is going to play this," Harry answered.

Jedzia, who had been keeping track of the impostor, looked over at Harry. /It looks like Albus is just about to confront them./

"Perfect," Harry purred.

The group of six continued towards the main hall, seemingly not noticing Jones and his friend, until Harry heard Jones raise his voice, garnering the attention of everyone in the hall.

"This is the young man I was talking to you about, Severus. He claims to have been taught by you?" Jones questioned, his voice slightly on the smug side.

"I have never seen this adolescent before in my life," 'Severus' stated in a raspy voice, trying and failing to produce a sneer.

"Good evening, Mr. Jones." Harry said politely. "Who is your friend?"

"You don't recognize him, boy?" Jones asked, a faint triumphant note entering his voice.

"Was I supposed to?" Harry asked, gritting his teeth at being called 'boy'.

"Why, this is Severus Snape, the Potions Master you claimed to have been taught by."

Whispers of disbelief flew through the hall, with a few snorts of laughter. Feeling Albus coming up behind him, Harry had to fight down his own laughter. "Really? Are you sure about that, Jones?" Harry asked.

"Of course I am," Jones snapped.

"That's really funny, because this isn't the man I know from Hogwarts. What do you think Headmaster Dumbledore? Is this the man who's been in your employ for the past fifteen-plus years?"

The group of people who originally came from Hogwarts watched in wide eyed awe as the veneer Dumbledore kept around himself was sweeped away, and in its place stood a powerful wizard who reminded them all of why exactly Voldemort was afraid of him. "No, James, it is not. I have never seen this man before," Albus stated, his voice cold.

Jones paled drastically, before gathering himself once again. "Another bid for attention, boy? Using someone's likeness to bolster your own story?" he managed to squeak out.

Harry's laughter was tinged slightly with a malicious undertone. "Why, Mr. Jones, I was under the impression that that was exactly what you were doing!"

Jones' face went red in anger and, forgetting that they were surrounded by many of the students, and by this time all of the faculty as well, he drew his wand. "How dare you, an insignificant child, accuse me, a respected member of this community, of such a crime?" he hissed. "I have had more than enough of your pithy comments and juvenile behaviour. It's time someone took a stand and put you in your proper place!"

By the time he was done, his voice had reached a mild roar, and Harry rocked back on his feet slightly as his mind flashed back briefly to his uncle. Jones, seeing his advantage, raised his wand, his magic swirling around him with his rage, and cast it forward with no real spell, just clear bad intent.

In the split second following this movement, several things happened at once. Harry's magic reacted to the threat with a crystalline wall, which was overlapped with several protection shields cast by various people in attendance. The notice-me-not spell covering Severus vanished, revealing his presence to the impostor, as Severus' arms wrapped around Harry and turn them both away from the danger. The students cast a variety of jinxes and hexes at both Jones and the impostor, bringing them down to the floor, and Anya locked down the entire building so that the two men had no chance to leave, despite the spells they were under.

All of this paled in comparison though, when the shadows in the hall started to come alive, flickering with hellish flames, while the temperature around the two men dropped dramatically and the air stilled completely before it started to compress around Jones and his companion, and the ground beneath them rolled and started to fissure where they were standing.

Coming back to his senses completely when he felt the elementals' rage, Harry pulled himself away from the shelter offered by Severus, and started to gather the wild magic dancing through the hall. "Stop!"

With that simple command, everyone froze, and time itself seemed to stand still.

His eyes burning with a dreadful intensity, Harry looked at his family. "Go to the Glade, and take our new arrivals with you. I will be there as soon as I clean up this mess." Sharing a look between them, K'lal, Azera and Iris nodded their heads, and along with those indicated disappeared.

Harry next looked to Anya, and with a whispered word of regret, used the Fae magic he had been granted, and wiped the memory of this confrontation from the minds of everyone in the school, sending them all back to their dinner, leaving only the memory of a message from Jones and Jarvis, sending their regrets for not being able to make the meal, with the headmistress. He watched as the students and staff drifted back to whatever they were doing before.

Breathing deeply to control the rage he could still feel from his family, Harry stood still for a few moments, before turning to Jones and his 'friend'. A quick glance through the impostor's mind indicated that it was truly Jarvis under a heavy glamour, and Harry felt his anger spike once again. "The two of you truly do not know when to leave things alone, do you?" he asked softly. "So far, I have treated you like an annoyance, something that just buzzed around my awareness, but no more. I have up to this point been downright benevolent with the two of you, but it ends today. I am going to show you exactly what could happen if you do not stop this infantile behaviour," Harry told them, his voice no more then a whisper.

Redirecting the magic swirling around him to the focus stone in the Demon Realm, Harry rested his hands on their foreheads, and envisioned where he wanted to go, using the magic of the focus stone for a safe passage for the two humans.

The three of them arrived within a blink of an eye, and Harry immediately directed the humans to a specific holding cell. This cell had been designed more as a warning than anything else. Once inside and the door closed, the wards surrounding the room played out the worst nightmares of whoever was incarcerated within. After playing out those nightmares, various torture scenes followed, driving home the point that the Being they had managed to piss off was not playing games, and if that specific Being didn't follow through on the techniques shown, there were plenty of others willing to do it for them. The best part of the room was that it wouldn't allow for the mind to break. Once you left the room, you left it whole, exactly how you entered.

Sighing softly, Harry sealed the door with his personal mark, allowing everyone to know that those inside were not available for 'play-time', and turned to the guards. Dragging a hand through his hair, he gave a sad smile. "Ka'laz, once they're done could you do me the honour of returning them to their homes?"

"Of course, Ishal." Ka'laz smiled, showing a row of sharp teeth. "Perhaps with an urgent impulse to leave the area entirely and find another line of work?"

Laughing softly, Harry nodded his head. "Sounds good to me." Casting one last look at the sealed door, Harry sighed again. "If anyone comes looking for me, I'll be in a pool. I need to relax before I join the family for dinner."

Without waiting for a response, Harry turned and opened another door, letting a blast of super heated air into the containment area. Shedding the mask of humanity he wore, Harry walked toward the nearest Lava pool, and dropped in, allowing the molten rock to embrace him as he slowly sank to the bottom.


End file.
